No, not the kind Voldemort spreads in the sky in eerie green only to have it dissipate without a trace. We are discussing the kind that sticks ugly in people’s minds and in history. Can-do Canada’s past is no stranger to such impressions, no stranger to xenophobia. In the early part of the last century the Canadian government imposed a head tax on all Chinese immigrants that began at $50 in 1885 and increased to $500 by 1903. Out of the around 80, 000 Chinese in Canada who paid that tax, 15, 000 were working to build the Canadian Pacific Railway and around 4000 of them died during construction. The head tax kept families apart for decades, sometimes for good, and kept them in a state of economic depression while they made it possible for goods to travel across Canada’s enormous land mass.
In April, the Chinese Canadian National Council’s mission to gain a formal apology and remuneration for the estates of Chinese-Canadians who paid the tax came closer to status ‘accomplished’. At the end of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s throne speech there was mention of an agenda item concerning a formal apology for Chinese Canadians. This type of dialog has prompted hope among many in the Indo-Canadian community of a similar apology, with possibility of redress, with regard to the Komagata Maru incident:
The Conservative government should issue an apology and compensation to Indo-Canadians over the Komagata Maru incident if it is going to give both to Chinese-Canadians over the head tax paid by Chinese immigrants in the early 20th century, B.C. Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal said… “If the government is going to apologize to one group of Canadians, they should also have a similar line for other groups of Canadians who have suffered discrimination” [Link]
Harper is said to be “looking into the matter”.
The Komagata Maru was carrying passengers who were Sikh by a large majority but the “white, please” immigration policies of the Canadian government at the time saw only brown. Passengers were not allowed to disembark, were left on board for two months in miserable conditions and were ultimately forced to return to India where they were persecuted by the British as participants in the Independence Movement. All because the Canadian government was afraid of some hardworking brown folk. This episode is as much a part of our history as Indian-Canadians as it is a part of Sikh history. Early immigrants to Canada were largely Sikh but they came here as Indians and they were discriminated against as Indians.As a Canadian who never misses an opportunity to yap about how great our multicultural society is, I can only hope that the cause for a formal apology is taken up by many more than just the Sikh community in British Columbia. A petition for such an apology was tabled in the House of Commons by former MP Gurmant Grewal who was a part of the opposition at the time. Now that the opposition has finally become head honcho it is very unfortunate that the petition’s champion is nowhere to be seen due to a series of controversies surrounding his time in parliament, the latest being a criminal investigation into his campaign finances.
The time is prime for some positive interest and who better than a film maker to raise some eyebrows and get some joints in motion. Following in the footsteps of Ali Kazimi’s much-lauded film “Continuous Journey“, Deepa Mehta is going to try her hand at recreating the Komagata Maru’s moment in history with a big budget feature film titled ‘Exclusion’. She is looking at adding the Big B to the “starring” list, which already includes Seema Biswas and John Abraham. Pardon me while I whoop with joy and scream my “you go girl!” at this bit of news (especially the Big B part). I am really pleased that she is finally tackling Indo-Canadian history and I hope that she will reign once again as Queen of Controversy (minus the burning effigies, of course). So that people can finally begin talking about the Komagata Maru without being met with blank stares and ultimately with disbelief. So that Canadians of all backgrounds can have a chance to peek outside their daily lives and understand how we arrived at this point in time. So that we can use this knowledge to represent real multiculturalism when the time comes for us to defend it.
Some of the unfortunate were more than persecuted Neha, they were executed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komagata_Maru
Kudos to Canada for actually acknowledging these injustices and attempting some sort of compensation, not to mention an actual apology. The story of the Komagata Maru sounds depressingly familiar. Aus had a similar incident with a Maltese immigrant ship, the
Very interesting, thanks Neha.
Great post Neha!
While it’s encouraging to see a any government or society attempt to make reparations for the past, when I’m feeling cynical, I sometimes wonder what could be accomplished by it. On the social level – comments in everyday conversation here in Alberta regarding minority politics are more often than not dripping with the underlying suggestion that minority protections are merely privileged form of reverse discrimination, that allows “them” to reap undeserved rewards from the hard work and historic contributions of white Canadians. Further it is suggested these insatiable minorities, who are already receiving so much, will stop at nothing to get more – e.g. apologies from the federal government.
Meanwhile, the real problems you have pointed out actually remain. While the head tax has been abolished, the “landing fee” for all new immigrants has comfortably taken its place. The process for family reunification remains cumbersome at the best of times and nightmarish at others. I still think that we have a long way to go – an official apology is merely the first step in the right direction.
I’m looking forward to Deepa Mehta’s telling of the story! I think that this kind of an approach – encouraging education and awareness – could better change attitudes at the social level than a what I hope does not end up being a token apology.
Early immigrants to Canada were largely Sikh but they came here as Indians and they were discriminated against as Indians
May be I am not sharp enough to comprehend the language, but do you mean to say that their Sikh identity was not a part of, or atleast not closely associated with, their Indian indentity ?
No, I mean that the Canadian govt.’s policy of exclusion targeted early Sikh settlers because they were Indian.
Yeah, I was confused by that at first too. What Neha is pointing out is that since the Sikh settlers were discriminated against as Indians, this is an event with resonance for all Indians, not just Sikhs (or Punjabis).
Badmash – I too am excited for the movie to hit because, as you mention, at least it will raise some awareness. It’s ridiculous that formal apologies have to be earned when they should be offered sincerely. I think it makes people fight for them when they see their histories being left unrecognized among the ra-ra mosaic chants. The fight then leads to tension and backlash. Sentiments of reverse discrimination are popular in rural Ontario as well where your average farmer views urban immigrants as usurpers of fed and provicial income that would otherwise be flowing towards their farms. The Conservatives probably won Ontario as a result.
I’m not in favour of any monetary redress. I’m also not big on narcissistic self-victimizing. It would be nice if, rather than each ethnic group looking at how it’s (notional) ancestors were discriminated against, we look at histories that don’t have a ‘colour’ connection. Desis should champion awareness of the Chinese head-tax. Men should champion awareness of Ontario’s imprisonment of ‘promiscuous’ women. Eastern Europeans should talk about Japanese internment. Deepa Mehta should make a movie about Doukhobours and Metis, not Sikhs and Punjabis. Anti-Racism should be anti-narcissistic.
I would have been excited if it wasn’t being directed by D.M. As is, I have low expectations.
Look on the bright side – at least it’s not Gurinder Chadha making it!
Ha! All the brown men on this boat are evil, but you’re supposed to feel bad for them, even though they’re mistreated by white men, who are all good!
Or maybe she would change the story so it had only brown women and white men on the boat, and brown men refusing it permission to dock.
Chadha’s version would have at least one female stowaway on the boat falling in love with the Canadian police man. With some magic spices. And the entire boat made up of scumbag Indian men.
Hmm, I was reading through some of the comments in Taz’s last post and I was thinking about how much crossover there is with the current immigration debates in terms of perspective. For example what exactly were the exclusion laws that were used to keep the passangers on the KM from landing on Canadian soil? What was the moral/civil basis for these laws then?
neha, i respect your pov but i am at a little disconnect… and I’ll illustrate via an edit on a pivoting line.
the disconnect does get amplified to a gaping hole at the societal level, as this story.. from the Toronto star suggests. It’s an article on segregation versus preservation.
🙂 🙂 🙂 :-)))
thank you ikram
The law used to keep out Desis was known as the ‘continuous journey’ law. I believe the public rationale was ‘disease prevention’, but the real reason was racism. The 1907 Vancouver riots, in which a rampaging mob of white men destroyed Asian property, was the impetus for the law.
To read some of the anti-East-Indian context around the law, check out this five page article in the 1905 American Economic Review about the filthy appearance of dark-skinned Indians and their unsuitability for the North American Continent.
There’s a really interesting essay by Radhika Mongia called “Race, Nationality, Mobility: A History of the Passport” [Public Culture, Vol. 11, No. 3, Fall 1999, 527-556] which deals with just this question. If anyone wants a copy of the article, email me and I’ll send it across.
PMG
Hit me up, PMG.
Ikram, I like your comments. They keep me on track.
One particularly poignant moment in “Continuous Journey” was the playback of a song which reflected the sentiments of many at that time: “White Canada Forever.” The song was set to footage of what I suppose White Canadians intended to do Forever: prance, cavort, barbeque, and generally have a good time being white and Canadian.
PropaMcGandhi – Thanks! I’m hitting you up (in the non violent sense) for the article. My email address is in the name link. Any chance you could summarize the key arguments for us?
Ikram – while I see your point about about the temptation towards narcissism, I do also believe that no one can tell the story of a community as well as someone from the community itself. For example, I don’t think Deepa Mehta would have done as good a job making a film like Ararat as Atom Egoyan did. There is an urgency and a familiarity to these kinds of films that comes from the sense of connectoin that someone within the community feels unlike anyone else.
Ikram & Dhaavak – I hear what you’re saying and I am not trying to dish out any ‘our cause vs. their cause’ arguments. You are describing an ideal situation, Ikram, and while I practice the same sort of reasoning in my personal life I realize that I was not raised within the strict confines of a singular community in this country. It is probably much easier for me to hold on to my notion of fairness for all when I have not spent my life reacting to, for example, the Gujrathi Bardai way of life as dictated by Bapu and his Swadhyay.
The reason I chose to write what I did (in the part you highlighted, D) is because I am ever-amazed at the divisions between communities that landed here from the same damn country. I just think that for many in the South Asian community it might be easier to reach that ideal of cross-cultural/societal support by thinking about something a little closer to home. I’m not victimizing a group of people because I can’t be bothered about other people from elsewhere. I’m only bringing it to notice because it is an important part of this country’s history that has been in the news of late and it relates to South Asia.
Also…wot’s wrong with D.M.? I haven’t seen Water as yet but Earth was good, Fire wasn’t bad either, no? And this is a big deal, other than Bollywood/Hollywood I can’t think of any other big name Canadian films made by desi directors that actually take place in Canada.
Yeah – what’s with the DM hateon? 🙂
Neha – true, unless you also count in the infamous Sakatchewan “indie” filmmaker Ray Ramayya!
true.. and i never doubted you felt this… but i was honestly surprised at the seeming swing towards the “us and them” because… it just was so uncharacteristic… and i would loath to see some fellow drop in and throw in some stuff about white-this and white-that without knowing the view from here.
i am not oblivious of the faults in the society – but nothin is a finished product at a personal, societal or national level – there’s always room to grow – an exercise in futility no doubt- my horrible realization when i dipped my goggles in a pool one morning :-/ – but what else is there to do but to assess and to take positive action – knowing what happened a hundred years back isnt important because we need to nurse a grudge, but because we need to know that good people can take terrible decisions under the garb of righteousness, or the so-called rule of law. … there’s much to be said, but we’ll have to wait till ang comes to town and takes us all out to a dinner of dosa and kasmiri tea:-)
AMEN.
Umm, what I’m trying to say is…AMEN. How very sweet of Ang, I think I’ll have two mysore sadas, one plate vada, one bissibille baht and two teas, yes that’ll do…thanks Ang, wherever you are 😛
I’m glad I didn’t have to say it first 😛 She’ll also probably throw in some scenes of the brown women back in the village in Punjab, making eyes at each other under some palm trees for some mirch masala and because she forgot to edit. Oooh! I wonder if she’ll explore some evil brown man homoerotic tension on the Kamagata Maru. That’ll be exotic and high-grossing and allow people another glimpse into “What’s Wrong With Men in India for Dummies”. Maybe, if he’s not too busy being emotionally abusive to his wife and virginal nieces, Gandhi can ride in on his train and save the day again!
My expectations for this movie are very low. If it’s awareness amongst Canadians that we want to raise, I say push the CBC to show Continuous Journey. It’s an excellent film and no amount (especially no amount) of Amitabh Bachan and John Abraham can tell the story better.
Anyone going to watch Deepa’s documentary at “Let’s Talk About It” at HotDocs in Toronto? I won’t be in town but even from the synopsis, does it not seem ethically problematic? Oh hey! It’s another Evil Brown Man movie and kids with cameras get to film the trauma in their own families! Score!
i’m not saying there should or shouldn’t be an apology, but do you think South Asians, including Sikhs, even need an apology? Canada has been pretty good to Sikhs for example. I wonder if as a community they (we) need that kind of thing
Dunno about this, people that watch the CBC (myself included) are usually a) pretty sympathetic to such issues b) living in Ontario/ BC/Maratimes c) don’t have any cable d) all of the above. A wider audience would surely be reached with a cinema release. Doubt the big bad Famous Players and Odeons would allow a country-wide release of Kazimi’s film.
or… that porn theater at bloor and bathurst us up for sale – coincidentally owned by hirji, i believe a fellow guju as you, and screen anything you want there – i believe they are showing emmanuelle #13 right now.
hey neha… that was a stupid remark, the “fellow guju” bit. I am sorry.
WHAT. WHAT. WHAT. W… The Metro Cinema, home to Pornoween and my first ever viewing of Vampyros Lesbos (it was for the sake of art), is owned by a Guju? Are you sure, D? Please, why are you apologizing? I mean, this is huge, are you really sure? I cannot wait to tell my parents and hear them “hai hai”ing like desi werewolves on a full moon!
oh yea… guju… absolutely sure… but i’d still be leery of trying out their buttered popcorn.
A truly sad history for both Indian and Chinese Canadians. I would like to say the world has made great strides but I know it hasn’t. Oddly enough what B.C. Liberal MP Sukh Dhaliwal said also bothered me.
Granted the only part of the speech I have read is from this site, but he didnt seem to be happy that the chinese community was getting reparations for the government. In fact he seemed to come off as being upset that if indians werent being recognized as well the Canadian government shouldnt have done anything. Maybe i am just naive but I believe that any time a government recognizes the ignorance and cruelty of their past laws is a reason for celebration for all of us. I am indian-american but I have to say I am dissapointed in the way MP Sukh Dhaliwal decided to voice his opinion. I feel that it makes us look unsupportive of our fellow asians.
y’all might be interested in this history of Sikhs in Canada. I was trying to find a reference to the mass deportation that they wanted to conduct (some folks wanted to send all the desis to Guyana) and came across it:
Oh. Canada. 🙁